She is Love
by Sessy52
Summary: He was broken, barely making it through the day. His brother was dead and his heart was getting weaker and weaker. He wouldn't last much longer. Until she came into the picture and brought him back to live. Rest in peace, you will be missed.


**Yeah, so a little oneshot, thing. This is sort of a more personal thing than for entertainment. Recently a really great guy at my school dead suddenly. The whole day was just bad. I lost my school ID that i need in order to enter the building so i spent twenty minutes looking for it before fiving up and then hunting down five dollars so i could buy a new one. I then found it in the car, and i was almost late for school and had to deal with my mother pulling Nascar basic maneuvers in the parking lot. Had a test i didn't have a chance to study for, had a tyrant for a sub (and you know that if you oppose a tyrant you die) and then had to write out 58 vocab words. Sucked. And that was just high school. I still had college crap i needed to do. Just a real sucky day. I find out the next day that this amzing guy died yesterday. He had a heart thing and when he went to sleep that Thursady night, his heart gave out and he never woke up again.**

**i wasn't real close to him, but i knew him. He pretty much made my day everytime i walked into my 6th hour last year. So hearing that he was just gone blew my mind. He was so loved in our school that everyone is taking it hard.  
**

**This is just my way of paying tribute to him.**

**So, yeah, there are some assects of him in both Sasuke and Itachi. The thing about school is basically my school; ass backwards. He was a tuba player and pretty much badass. The song featured in here has sort of become his theme at my school because he did two covers of it on his facebook. Everyone was singing it during the candlelight ceremony we had on my schools track. Also, he was the singer of a band he had with friends. He was a great guy that everyone will miss. There are a couple of vidoes in his honor on youtube.**

**so yeah.**

* * *

"I'm so sorry for your loss."

I nodded listlessly. Seriously, I didn't want to be here. Funeral homes just . . . well, they are creepy. The air is stale and there are dead bodies in the basement (Believe me; I had to go down there a few days before. Not something I wish to experience again) Not to mention the room was small and there were a lot of people jammed in there. And it wasn't like I could leave. The viewing was from three to nine. It was only five; four more hours to go.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss," another person repeated.

Urgh, I'm getting so sick of hearing that. If I hear it one more time, I swear I'm going to go insane. As if this isn't bad enough, I have to deal with every fucking person that ever came into contact with my brother for the slightly moment coming up to me to apologize for my loss. Seriously, I knew my brother was a popular guy but this was just simply ridiculous. And it seemed like more and more people were piling in but a much fewer amount of people leaving.

This fucking sucks.

Time slowly flowed by. After awhile, I just ignored the people who came up to me. Instead, I stared straight ahead at the open casket. The casket was at a higher level than my seated form, thankfully, so I couldn't see him. I don't know how long I just stared at it without blinking. One moment the room was filled to its maximum capacity and then the next moment I was sitting in the empty room gently being shaken.

I looked up to see the funeral director looking down at me. "Sasuke, it's nine o' seven. I don't wish to rush you but your parents have already left and I wish to close up for the night. I'll be here at seven if you want to come early for the funeral."

I nodded and then looked at the casket once more. "Yeah, I'll be here early," I said and then stood up. From my new vantage point, I could see his lifeless form. I looked away quickly. "If you could give me a moment more, I will get out of your hair right after."

The man nodded and put his hand on my thin shoulder in what seemed like it was supposed to be comforting to me. It didn't help but I didn't tell him that. Instead, I tried to pay attention to what he was saying. "Take your time."

He left the room after and I waited until I was sure he was out of hearing range before I slowly made my way over to my brother. Seeing him this way was just so . . . . wrong. He was an Uchiha, like me, so he wasn't exactly the best at expressing his emotions but he was so expressive when he did. When he was with friends, he was always smiling, always saying the damnest things and always making me smile.

He was everything I wasn't. He was the first born son to a rich family that expected greatness, and he lived up to the bill. He had a way with people I would never be able to achieve and was so damn talented. He excelled in everything he did with what looked like so little effort but he wasn't arrogant or cocky. He was going to school to be a successful business man and had earned our father's love and approval. He was the better son, the better man.

I was the family failure. I was the second born son who just couldn't live up to family expectations. I was far from being the prodigy like my dear brother and was extremely antisocial. I did well at some things, the things that didn't seem to matter. I failed utterly in high school, finally just dropping out when I turned sixteen. Father was so pissed at me because of it that he kicked me out and I had been living with three roommates since, working two jobs to support myself. I had given up but my brother wouldn't give up on me. Even when father disowned me, he was always by my side. It was him who had finally convinced my father to allow me to come to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year after nearly three years of being excluded from it. Thanksgiving was wonderful, surprisingly, and I was really looking forward to Christmas for the frist time in years.

But my brother, Itachi, hadn't made it to Christmas.

I stared down at his pasty skin and dull hair. Even in death, he was handsome, but it was just so wrong to see him like this. This person in front of me was my brother. This person wasn't the lively, loving brother that I had grown up with. He wasn't the man who had never given up on me. He wasn't my brother anymore. He was just a corpse.

I gently reached out and placed my ice cold hand on his own equally cold one. My hands were cold because that how I always was. His were cold because there was no life beneath the skin.

I shook my head slowly. "Why?" I whispered to him. "Why did you leave me here all alone?"

My eyes teared up and I leaned forward to rest my forehead on the rim of the casket. "I was the one that was supposed to die. I'm the one with the heart condition. I'm the one whose heart could just fail at anytime. So why was it you who passed on? How could you just get sick like that?"

The tears that I had been fighting since Thursday night finally overwhelmed me and spilled down over my face. "How could you leave me? You know I'm nothing without you? You were the one with the bright future. You were the better one. Why did you die and leave me of all people to try and fix things? It doesn't make sense that you should die while I should live."

I was silent for a long time, slowly calming down. It just didn't make sense to me. How could death strike so suddenly for someone so young and such a great person? If there really is a God, how does he justify this? Why would he take away someone who was so young, whose life was only beginning, and had touched so many in his limited years? How could this happen to someone like him?

"Damn, did I miss it?" a voice suddenly asked and I jumped and whirled around.

Standing in the doorway was a strange, pink haired girl. She was bundled up tightly but was still shivering from the cold December air. She was wearing a dark black jacket and black pants. She wore a red hat with her pink hair tumbling out from underneath. She was a little out of breath, like she had been rushing. Her bright emerald eyes sparkled and pierced through me with a strange intensity.

I blinked and tried to clear my thoughts. "Um, yeah," I muttered, wiping my eyes when I remembered that I had been crying. "The viewing was from three to nine. I was just leaving myself so that the funeral director could close up for the night."

She cursed softly, but it sounded so strange coming from a person who looked so small and innocent. I wouldn't have thought that she would even know such a word.

She removed her hat from her head and I took a moment to see if I could see her natural roots, trying dimly to determine if that was her actual color. She sighed. "I came all the way from Suna when I heard," she explained.

I nodded because I wasn't sure what to say to that so I thought nodding was a safe bet. I glanced over my shoulder at my brother before stepping towards her. "Well, you came all this way. The funeral is in the morning, but you can say your goodbyes now that you are here," I told her. She watched my every movement as I crossed the room. I made sure to say out of a three-foot radius of her. "I'll give you a moment alone," I muttered and then exited the room.

I moved down the small hallway and leaned against the wall in the reception area. I took several deep breaths, trying to fully calm myself. Everything hurt. I tried fruitlessly to calm myself and fight the pain that gripped me, making my chest feel constricted. Down the hall I could hear quiet mutterings from the viewing room. I can't help but wonder who she was and how she knew my brother.

The funeral director came through a door to my right, the one that led to the basement. He blinked in surprise to see me standing there. "Are you done already?"

"Sort of," I managed before I heard high heels clinking against the tiles as the girl came down the hall.

She offered a small smile as she entered. "I'm done," she offered awkwardly.

I nodded and then hesitated. I looked back to the director. "I left my coat in the viewing room,' I said and gestured quickly towards the hallway. I slowly made my way back into the room and over to where I was previously sitting. I slowly lifted it off the back of the chair and over my long sleeve shirt. I hesitated a moment more before stepping back over to my brother.

"I'll see you tomorrow, my brother," I whispered and leaned forward to brush my lips over his forehead. My chest constricted uncomfortably in response while I turned on my heels and exited the room.

When I reentered the reception area I saw that the director was waiting for me as well as the girl. I paused briefly and then nodded to the director. "I'll see you in the morning, then," I said and started for the door.

"Yes, you will," he muttered.

I heard the girl's heels click as she moved to follow me. I stepped through the door and into the cold December air. I held the door out for her behind me but didn't turn to look at her. She thanked me as she stepped out. I pulled my coat closer to my body and grunted in response before making my way over to my car.

"At what time is the funeral?"

I stilled and glanced over my shoulder. She was still standing by the front door but she had replaced her hat on her head. The snow was falling down around her and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was.

"Ten a.m." I muttered.

She smiled sadly. "I'll be there at ten then."

I nodded and continued on my way. I reached my car as she was crossing the lot and climbed in. I turned on the heat quickly and watched through the rearview mirror as she reached her own car and climbed in. I waited still until she situated herself and backed out of the parking space. She slowly exited the lot, nodding in my direction when she passed me. I waited until she was out of sight before I exited myself. Call me weird, but I want to be the last one to leave him here.

When I arrived home none of my roommates were home. An older acquaintance of mine, Orochimaru, owned the building. He was sort of a creepy guy but when I got kicked out he arranged for me to room with three people only slightly older than myself. My roommates are two males, Suigetsu and Juugo, and then one girl, Karin. They're annoying, but I live with it. I've been here for three years now, going onto four years.

I slowly entered the kitchen area and threw my keys onto the table. My head ached and my chest throbbed, no doubt my heart was beating irregularly. I hadn't taken my medication today, something that's dangerous for me to skip. I moved towards the bathroom where I keep my medication. Inside the medicine cabinet is four shelves and each roommate gets one. Mine is the second highest, the one with the multiple prescriptions bottles.

I'm sort of a wreck. I was born with a heart condition. My heart is weak and if I don't monitor myself then I could become strained and my heart may not be able to pump the blood I need. The doctors warned my parents that my heart wasn't failing so I wasn't a candidate for a heart transplant, but it's possible that I may need it one day if my heart decides to slowly decline. However, there is also a possibility that my heart could fail suddenly and if that happened than I will be dead before they can ever consider putting me on the transplant list.

I also developed some other issues when I was out of my family's home. I developed some intense anxiety problems as well as falling into a deep depression. I now have to take anxiety medication, antidepressants, and my heart medications in addition to the multiple other smaller prescriptions my doctor gave me in order to balance out all of the side effects of the medications. I run out of something or skip a day and I feel as if I'm going to fall apart at the seams, dissolve into nothing but dust. But with my brother's sudden death, I don't think I could fall apart anymore without leaving a mess of dust and ashes that someone would have to sweep up off the floor. But knowing my roommates, they will just brush me under the rug.

I took a few minutes in the bathroom, silently taking everything that I could take in that moment. Afterward, I went to my bedroom (AKA the living room with the most comfortable bed on earth, the broken couch) and lay down, shielding my eyes with my arms. I still couldn't make any sense of it. How could Itachi, my loving, prefect brother, be gone while I, the broken shell of a person, stilled lived?

I don't remember falling asleep but then I was suddenly being jolted awake by my stupid roommate with the blender. I groaned and looked at the clock, seeing that I had five minutes to get out of the house in order to get to the funeral home on time for the funeral. I bolted up and into the bathroom where I bypassed the suit I was going to wear and instead slipped on slacks and a button up shirt. I ran my hands through my stubborn hair and fixed it the best I could before rushing out the door without taking much time to put on my shoes or coat. I then cursed and had to go back to retrieve my keys from the table.

I had to haul ass to get there. When I arrived, a lot of people had already gathered to say a final goodbye to my brother. Father glared at when I entered because I had once again disappointed him. Shocker there, what will I ever do?

I stood up next to him, off to the side of the casket. He leaned over so that he could whisper to me. "Thanks for showing up. You know that if it was you in that casket your brother would have been the first person here this morning," he muttered darkly to me.

I stared forward, not bothering to look at him. I also didn't bothering whispering like he had so everyone in the same area heard me speak. "Let's not pretend that if it was me in that casket that you would even be here," I spoke clearly. I then turned to face him. "And don't you dare try to make me feel like crap. My brother is dead, the only family I have ever had is dead. I already feel crappy enough without you going out of your way to make me feel worse. Do us all a favor and stay away from me. It would kill Itachi if he knew I beat the shit out of you at his funeral."

I marched to stand on the other side of the casket, much closer to my brother than before. I stared down at his lifeless form and gently touched the casket, greeting him in my own silent way. The ceremony was about to begin so I moved to my seat, spotting a pink head in the very back of the room as I sat down.

The ceremony went by slowly but smoothly. Several people went up to speak about him. It was nice to hear all of the stories but I wasn't able to bring myself to speak. I was barely holding it together as it was. I nearly lost it when Itachi's best friends and band mates when up but thankfully I held it together. Itachi was in a screamo band with his best friends from high school. Itachi was the singer.

Have I mentioned I hate funerals? After the ceremony inside the home, we went down to the cemetery which wasn't any better. Watching them lower him into the ground . . . .

I went home soon after that, skipping the wake all together. Instead I went home and took more medication, so I wouldn't forget later. I then, however, spent twenty minutes trying to convince myself not to swallow the rest of the bottles at one time. I eventually abandoned the idea when my roommate came in from work. I wouldn't want them to have to clean up my mess.

She leaned against the doorway of the bathroom while I washed my face. "You look like hell," she remarked.

I glared halfheartedly at her reflection in mirror while the water droplets slowly streamed down my face. "How am I supposed to look when I just get back from my brother's funeral?"

She blinked. "Oh, was that today?" she drawled uninterestedly.

"Yeah, it was."

"Sorry for your loss. It really sucks."

"Yeah," I muttered and then pushed past her to change my clothes while deeply regretting not swallowing all those pills. I changed into black jeans and a dark blue long sleeved shirt. I pulled a hat over my unruly hair and then the hood of the sweatshirt I pulled on over the top of my head as well. I had to go to work.

The days following the funeral passed slowly and in the same manner. I went to work, went home, ate lunch, and then changed for my next job. Got home around nine and then passed out so I could repeat the process. I quickly got into the habit of skipping breakfast and dinner all together, eating a large lunch instead. And I kept myself busy. I arranged both of my schedules so that I could work all day, leaving little time to do much else. It was better this way.

Unfortunately, Christmas came and I reluctantly had to take time off of work. My boss, Kakashi, knew that my brother had died recently and knew that I was working myself dry. Even when I pleaded with him to let me work, he wouldn't budge. I was on paid vacation, whether I liked it or not.

Not wanting to just sit around at home, I slowly made my way down the crowded main street. People of all sorts were rushing around trying to get their last minute shopping down or just hanging out. Everyone was laughing and smiling, bundled up to protect themselves from the cold weather. Looking at all of them, I felt so isolated, introverted. Itachi would have been right at home here. He was anything but introverted.

A flash of pink caught my eye. I turned slowly to see the familiar face of the strange pink haired girl walking out of a store with a cluster of giggling girls. They all had shopping bags in their hands, bundled up the same way everyone else was. They stepped out in front of me without even noticing me.

It was only then did I notice, looking at their backs, that they all had the same pin of their handbags. It was a green leaf pin, a symbol I recognized as the sort of mascot of Konoha High School. The only reason I knew this was because I used to be a leaf too before I dropped out in my sophomore year. Itachi was a leaf too, except he actually graduated, unlike me.

Also, next to the leaf pin was a cheap, handmade bow. The bow looked to be made out of a tin blanket or perhaps an ugly curtain. There was a print on it and it took me a moment for me to realize what it was. A weasel.

My heart thumped unevenly in my chest, making me remember that I hadn't taken my medication today. But I couldn't focus on this, even with my heart beating so erratically. All I could focus on was the bow because I knew exactly what it was. It was a tribute to my brother, whose name means weasel and because it his favorite animal.

Without thinking, I stepped forward with a single long stride and gripped the strap of the pink haired girl's over the shoulder bag. I tugged on it without really meaning too, because I was starting to feel dizzy and I could feel myself breathing harshly. And what had started out to be me clinging to a tribute to my brother soon became me cling to something to keep me up. I heard a gasp and a small yelp and then my support fell down with me. Black invaded my vision before I even hit the ground.

When I opened my eyes again, I was on the ground. I must not have been out for a long time, because a crowd of people were only just now forming. I felt cold, because I was one the snow covered ground, but my head was supported on something strong and warm. I blinked and tried to get my bearings.

"Should we call 911?" I heard a frantic, unfamiliar female voice say.

"No, please don't," I whispered. I took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I just need to get my bearings," I tried to reason.

"Your lips are blue. How long have you been outside?" I heard someone ask me. This voice I recognized as the pinkette. But for some reason, it was much closer than I had expected it to be. I looked around in confusion, finally noticing that my head was resting in her lap. She was covered in snow, probably from falling with me.

I tried to focus on what she said. My lips were blue, not a good sign. I had only been walking for maybe a half hour. Surely it wasn't enough to turn my lips blue. The only possible reason for this must have been my heart. The whole fainting thing was my heart's fault. Blue color of the skin, fainting and dizziness, shortness of breath and the layer of sweat that I could feel coating my body were all side effects of my bad heart. I could feel my heart beating erratically in my chest.

I tried to collect myself, lifting my hand to brush it over my eyes. "Not long, don't worry. I'm fine," I told her. I breathed in deeply and then tried to sit up, my head swirling in the process. I took a shakily breath and waved to the crowd forming. "I'm fine, don't worry," I assured, trying to get them to disperse. They didn't.

I sighed, realizing that I would need to stand up in order to convince them I was fine. I started to pull myself up and was sort of relieved when I felt delicate hands grip me from behind in order to assist me. I made it to my unsteady feet and then waved to all watching, trying to convince them I was fine. People soon began to drift away, seeing as I wasn't going die I no longer held their attention.

"Are you sure you're okay?" the pinkette asked from behind me. I turned to face her slowly and nodded. She reached out to dust the snow off of my body, completely ignoring the fact that she was cover in snow too.

"I'm fine," I assured, awkwardly reaching out to brush some snow off her arm. She watched my hand move and I froze before letting it drop to my side awkwardly. We stood for an awkward moment before she gave a dazzling smile that made my stupid heart skip a beat and my head to swirl in respond. I tried to hold myself together while she grabbed her bag off the ground and dusted it off. She friends were the only ones lingering around us now.

"You're Itachi's brother, right?" she asked and I nodded.

"Younger or older? I could never remember. Itachi told me once before but I don't remember."

"Younger," I answered awkwardly, shivering slightly in the cold. Some of the snow had melted before it was dusted off and now my clothes were wet. I looked her in the eyes with an uneasy expression. "How is exactly did you know my brother, if you don't mind me asking?"

She pulled her coat closer to her body and smiled that dazzling smile again. "I don't mind. But do you want to walk over to that coffee shop right over there. We can warm up a bit while we talk. Plus, I want to make sure you really are okay, so I'm not taking a no for an answer."

I blinked and glanced at her friends quickly. One was a pretty blonde, another was a sporty looking brunette, and the last being a timid raven haired girl. The blonde stepped forward with a weird smile on her face that I couldn't hope to understand. "Hey, Sakura, while you and your new friend talk, the girls and I are going to finish finding that gift," she winked. "Don't do anything I wouldn't."

"Shut it, Ino-pig," the pinkette, Sakura the blonde had said, growled. Again, she looked so odd doing fierce things like growling and swearing. She just looked so delicate and angelic. It went against the grain to say the least.

The blonde laughed and then hooked arms with the two other girls and started down the street like the four of them at been doing before I intervened. Sakura's amazing emerald eyes narrowed into a glare while she watched her friends disappear. She took a calming breath and then the angry face melted away like it had never even been there in the first place. Instead that dazzling smile took its place. She hooked her arm through mine and gave a gentle tug.

"Careful on the ice here," she said as she towed me towards the coffee shop.

I blinked. "I'm not a child, you know. I haven't been one in years. I think I can cross the street," I muttered, although I was careful on the ice.

She raised her free hand in defense. "Sorry, just watching out for you," she said with a smile.

We entered the coffee shop and she ushered me to her favorite table, the one that looked out onto the street, she informed me. "I like people watching," she said with a small quirk of the lips. We ordered drinks and settled down the try and warm up. She took a sip of her drink, leaving a whip cream coating her upper lip.

"So, how do you know my bother?" I asked while she licked the whip cream off her lip. The action was innocent enough, but my heart stuttered.

She dabbed a napkin over her lips quickly. "We went to high school together. He was a senior and I was just a freshman, but we quickly began good friends when my idiot counselor scheduled me into a very challenging class. I couldn't switch out for one reason or another so I had to tough it out. Itachi was in the class, the top of the class in fact, so he offered to help me. I passed because of him."

I nodded, thinking it through. When Itachi was a senior, I was a sophomore. That means she and I had been in the same school for a few months and I hadn't even noticed. How I ever missed a pink haired girl is unfathomable to me.

She took another sip of her drink and then quirked her head to the side, like a dog would do. "You went to Konoha High too, didn't you?"

I nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, for awhile."

She laughed. "Yeah, I remember when all of the band sprayed their hair green when they got a one at State. You did it too, right? It was in the yearbook."

I nodded and sipped my own drink. She smiled that amazing smile and extended her hand to gently touch mine of the table. Her hand was warm against mine. "I still laugh because of how reversed our school was. In most schools the cool kids were the jocks and cheerleaders. In our school, the jocks and cheerleaders were made fun of while the band kids were the cool kids."

I couldn't help smile a little at the thought. It felt weird to smile, like it didn't belong on my face. I don't remember the last time I had smiled. "Yeah, I played the tuba so I was pretty much the most kickass person in the whole school," I joked.

She laughed loudly and it sounded like bells chiming. "No kidding. That school completely flipped all the cliques upside down."

I nodded, looking out the window to people watch. "Yeah, we were always pretty ass backwards."

She snorted. "Ass backwards," she repeated like she was testing out the phrase. "I like that. That's exactly what we were."

I don't know what possessed me to start speaking. Maybe it was just because she was so odd. She was angelic, kind, and like she was always happy. She was a stark contrast to my entire world, a splash of color in my black world.

"Itachi was always ass backwards too. In my family, we are so emotionally retarded, especially the males. But Itachi was always so open. He may have some trouble expressing some of his deeper emotions, but he was always kind and open about everything else. He was the person I came to when I feared that I couldn't go any farther. He supported me even when I dropped out of school or when I was disowned by my family. He helped me move into my apartment and always snuck twenty dollars for gas in my wallet when I wasn't looking. He went against the grain in my family, but that was just who he was," I whispered.

She smiled sadly. "You miss him, don't you?"

I nodded. "He was the only one I had."

She squeezed my hand. She looked at me intensely. "Well, if you would like, you can have me."

I stared at her. And in that moment, my heart fluttered again. But this time, I don't think it was because my heart was weak. It was her, and her bright, odd demeanor. It was her bring me out of my dark world.

And in at moment, I remembered a time weeks ago when I was sitting with my brother, mere days before he would go to sleep and never wake up again. We were sitting in the shopping center, watching people walk by us. He was strumming his guitar, silently humming. I was drinking coffee, avoiding home where my roommate was having 'alone time' with a new girlfriend.

Itachi smiled at me. "Hey, listen to this new song I'm working on."

_I've been beaten down  
I've been kicked around  
But she takes it all for me  
And I lost my faith  
In my darkest days  
But she makes me want to believe  
They call her love, love, love, love, love  
They call her love, love, love, love, love  
She is love  
And she is all I need  
She's all I need  
Well I had my ways  
And they were all in vain  
And she waited patiently  
It was all the same  
All my pride and shame,  
But she put me on my feet  
They call her love, love, love, love, love  
They call her love, love, love, love, love  
She is love  
And she is all I need  
She is love  
And she is all I need  
She is love  
And she is all I need_

Looking at Sakura now, smiling at me, I understood. She was a complete stranger to me, and yet I've never felt this kind of connect with anyone before. And it was true. I have been beaten down and lost my faith. But here she was, this angel is a red hat with odd pink hair and then most gorgeous emerald eyes I've ever seen, and I want to believe again. She was putting me on my feet again, opening my eyes for the first time in years.

She is love.

I smiled softly. "I don't think we have been properly introduced. I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

She laughed, the musical bells filling the air. "God, how embarrassing. I'm sort of throwing myself at you and I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Sakura Haruno."

I smiled and willed my heart to beat normally. Before, I had nothing to live for. But now, I have to live for her.

She smiled, her eyes softening. She brushed her fingertips along my bottom lip. "Hey, your lips aren't blue anymore. I guess you finally warmed up."

I smirked and laughed once. "Yeah, something like that," I muttered, deciding that I wouldn't tell her it was my heart that had warmed up. My soul.

She offered me that dazzling smile and then looked out the window to people watch while sipping her drink. I don't think she realizes how beautiful she actually is. And to think that we met at my brother's funeral. I guess I really do owe my brother everything that I have today. Death is funny in that way, it brings together people in times of hardship. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes, looking at me with this strangely adoring look.

Thank you, my brother, and rest in peace.

* * *

**This story is about a death, love and moving on. Life is so unbelieveably unpredictable and each moment, each breath we take could be the last. At the candlelight ceremony, they told us the God saw that John was getting tired and he welcomed him into his arms. I don't know if i truely believe that, but i do know that John taught me to smile. John was only seventeen, but he lived. He was a photographer and an artist. He was a musician, whether it was my school's band tuba or the singer in his band, In Dust and Ashes. And anyone who knew him can tell you he was just plain kickass and a great person and friend. We were all blessed to just have him walk this world, and i was even more blessed to be able to see such a beautiful person each day. **

**In this story, Sasuke is finally able to move on. He was blessed to have his brother in the same way we were all blessed to have John. And even if we can't see that person now, we know that they are touched our lives, shaped us into the people we are today. Death is funny in that way because we are all marked now. Now Sasuke has Sakura to pick him up, carry him the same way that his brother had. Sometimes we all just need someone to lean on.**

**Thanks for making me smile. Rest in Peace, John.**


End file.
